The Stolen City
by dirtyblueballoons
Summary: Five years after Charlie and Infinity Bone finally ended the Bloor reign of terror, Charlie is working hard to finish his final year at the Bone Academy. The normalcy he became accustomed to is quickly shattered when the Mirror of Amoret is stolen and suspicious things start happening around the city. (Sequel to Infinity)
1. A Stolen Mirror

_**Author's Note:**_ **Much like Infinity, TSC is told in shifting POV. The main narrator of this story will be Charlie.**

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Chapter One: A Stolen Mirror

Charlie Bone

While the sounds of six other rustling bodies in creaking brass beds were gone, I found myself still unable to sleep soundly behind academy walls. Ezekiel Bloor and the awful influence he held over the Red King's City had been gone for the last five years, but the building was still old and creaky, and the memories were still there. I sat up and looked out the window over my bed. It was raining outside, a softly pattering against the panes. It should have been peaceful enough to help me sleep, but something felt wrong.

I gazed down into the courtyard. Since Asa Pike took over as the groundskeeper, it had never looked better. He had planted new grass. replaced the shrubs, and had even installed little electric lanterns around the yard that gave off a very soft, relaxing glow. Unlike Weedon, Asa spent his time actually fixing things around the academy instead of involving himself in nefarious plots. The difference was astounding.

Thanks to the soft light from the lanterns, I caught sight of a hooded figure confidently striding through the courtyard coming from the direction of the ruin. The only way to access the courtyard without walking through the academy was to jump over one of the walls in the ruin or access the secret tunnel through the Pet's Cafe. I cupped the glass to help myself get a better look. At first, I thought it might have been Asa until I saw them stop in front of the west wing. They looked up at a window for a few moments. Though I couldn't tell which window they were looking at, I was certain that it was the one that lead to Infinity's bedroom. The figure suddenly held their arms up over their head and the glass to Infinity's bedroom window shattered outward, as if something had been flung from her bedroom rather than tossed inside. I was certain that the loud crack of glass was enough to wake anyone up. Seemingly satisfied with their work, the figure picked something up off of the ground and took off into the ruin.

Worried for my sister, I quickly ran from my room and towards the west wing. As I cleared the boys dormitory, I could hear everyone else stirring from their beds, confused murmurs and shouts of surprise once they saw the damage in the courtyard. By the time I got to Infinity's room Dr. Saltweather and Asa Pike were both already there. Infinity was standing outside of the room wrapped in a long, white robe. I could see splinters of wood littered in her white blonde hair. "What happened? Are you okay?" I asked her.

She was so shaken up, she just stared at me with a panicked look in her watery eyes. Knowing I wouldn't get any information about what would happened from her at that moment, I poked my head into the bedroom and was surprised to see that her giant armoire had been completely destroyed. The wooden doors were cracked open and splintered, as if something had been shot out of it with great force. The chips were all over her bed and the window above it was completely shattered. Asa was trying to clean up the mess while Dr. Saltweather picked through the amoire to see what was missing.

"What is gone?" I asked.

"I'm not sure..." Dr. Saltweather tossed an empty, broken drawer on the bed. "I don't know what she kept in here, but this drawer sustained the most damage."

After taking a moment to herself to calm down, Infinity joined us in the bedroom. I pointed out the drawer that was tampered with and she began to panic all over again. "That's where I kept the Mirror of Amoret. I had a spell over it… No one knew it was there but me." The tears that had been threatening to spill from her eyes started to overflow. Whenever the mirror had been recovered, dad had tasked Infinity with taking care of it. She was able to protect it with stronger magic than anyone else at the time. I began to feel sick to my stomach, especially because I had watched everything happen and wasn't able to do anything to stop it.

"Hey, hey. Don't cry." Asa's calm voice pulled me back into the moment. I watched him place a reassuring hand on her back. "I bet that mirror cracked when it flew out the window. Charlie is the only person who has ever successfully repaired it."

"But we don't know who took it." Infinity stared at him. "It could have been anyone. Whoever it is, they are powerful because no one knew where it was but me. And no one could get to it but me."

"We'll take care of it. We'll figure it out." Asa wrapped another arm around her, pulling her into a comforting hug. "I'll get all of this cleaned up and taken care of. You can stay in my room tonight."

Due to their close friendship, Infinity gave Asa his own space in the west wing. I watched him lead a very distraught Infinity out of the room and down the hall to Asa's private quarters, leaving me alone with Dr. Saltweather. "You ought to return to your room as well, Charlie. I'm certain that you'll have quite a bit of work cut out for you tomorrow with all of the gossip. Just because something exciting happens doesn't mean that rules shouldn't be followed. You're the head boy this year. Make sure that you keep up with your responsibilities." Dr. Saltweather instructed.

I gave a quick nod before returning to my room. Despite my average grades, I still somehow ended up being appointed head boy. Dr. Saltweather said being head boy wasn't just about grades, it was about leadership skills and following the rules. It felt like it was just special treatment, considering my father owned the academy and my sister was a biology teacher, but I still tried my hardest to avoid letting anyone down.

I wasn't able to sleep that night and rose from my bed when it was time for breakfast along with everyone else. There was a lot of nervous chatter and gossip about the night before just as Dr. Saltweather predicted. "I heard that room belonged to Miss Bone. She's very pretty, you know. Possibly a jealous guy?" I heard someone whisper.

"That is enough of that." A familiar voice snapped from behind them. I turned and saw Manfred Bloor scolding the gossipy first year student. "It's not appropriate to spread rumors about the staff. Get to breakfast."

"Sorry, Mr. Bloor." The student hung their head in shame, quickly sulking away.

When Manfred noticed me, he brightened up a bit. Despite the questionable behavior he had in the past, he was completely forgiven by my family after he was shown to be a decent person outside of Ezekiel's influence. While he was still kind of rough around the edges and not very friendly, he was very good at his job as a history teacher. He was also still very good friends with Infinity despite the fact that the relationship Infinity had with his brother Salem had ended a few years ago. "Bone, I'm happy to see you." There was no sign of happiness anywhere on Manfred's face, but I was sure he was curious about what happened. "Is Infinity okay? I wanted to go check up on her when everything happened but Matron Taylor needed assistance in keeping the students in line."

"Uh, she's pretty shaken up. I wouldn't be surprised if she took a personal day today." I awkwardly walked next to him. Although Infinity trusted him, it was still strange for me. I no longer had a reason to fear him. I stood at the same height as him now, and I knew how to utilize both my endowments to the fullest to keep myself safe, but I struggled to talk to him sometimes. I didn't know if I should tell him about the mirror.

"I saw Asa replacing the window this morning. Dad kept a lot of spares on-hand just in case your uncle wanted something." He joked, referencing the few times Uncle Paton showed up to explode windows in the academy in order to persuade Ezekiel or Dr. Bloor into giving him what he needed. "Anyway, I don't want to keep you from getting to breakfast. I just wanted to make sure she was okay. Try to have a good day, Bone."

"Yeah. You too, sir." I murmured before ducking into the breakfast line. When I got my food and picked a table, it didn't take long for my friends in the music department to join me. Fidelio Gunn showed up first, almost shaking with all the questions he wanted to ask. My little brother Billy second, also curious. Because he was still in a common dorm, he didn't get the opportunity to leave and investigate like I did. Then Dagbert showed up, apathetic as always. And finally, Vera Clark joined our table.

When I explained the situation, Vera seemed to be the most disturbed. Vera was a year younger than me and enrolled in the academy the year after my dad took over. She was a descendant of Guanhamara and was clairvoyant. She didn't use her endowment often, as most of the things she was able to predict were either too mundane or so off the wall that she didn't know how to interpret it. "I thought I saw something the other day, but I wasn't able to make much sense of it." She tucked a piece of chestnut brown hair behind her ear. "I saw shards of broken glass in a white rose bush and a jeweled mirror. I also saw a castle by the sea. It was very old with crumbling walls, but something made me feel uneasy."

I wasn't sure what the castle by the sea was, but the glass in the rose bushes and the jeweled mirror were clearly warnings about the previous night. I thought about bringing everything up to Infinity when I saw her again, provided that she had gotten the opportunity to calm down a bit. "If you see anything else, can you please let me know?" I asked her.

"Of course, Charlie." She gave me a reassuring smile. I liked Vera a lot. I had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that I would never see Matilda again and that she would never exist in my time, but being around Vera cushioned that blow a lot. She was very kind to everyone she met and gave good advice to those who needed it. She was excellent at baking, rivaling even Maisie. She played the clarinet very well for an endowed student. She was very pretty too. She kept her hair cut in a medium length bob, had a round face that was covered in cute freckles, big brown doe eyes and an infectious smile. "I have Medieval with Mr. Bloor next. Have you talked to him about any of this?"

"Uh, no. Not really." I looked down at my breakfast. Vera had never known Manfred the way I had, and because of that, he quickly became her favorite teacher once he was hired at the academy the previous year despite his grumpy demeanor. In addition to teaching Medieval Literature and History to the fifth years, he also had taught European History to the fourth years. "I was going to leave that to Infinity. They're pretty good friends. He only stopped me to ask if she was alright."

"Maybe you should talk to him, Charlie." Dagbert shrugged. "I know it's weird, but if Mrs. Tilpin is involved in any of this he might be able to help us. If Fin trusts him, we should trust him too. I'll bet it was that little gutter rat son of hers that snagged the mirror."

I let out a resigned sigh. "You're right. I hate it, but you're right. Maybe I can catch up to him before his class starts."

"I'll go with you, if you'd like. He's usually in his classroom after breakfast." Vera nudged me with her elbow. I begrudgingly agreed to go with her.

Vera and I walked together to Manfred's classroom. Vera was very short compared to me. She was just barely over five feet and once confided in me that she had to still buy shoes from the kids section. She was also a bit on the chubby side, often joking that it was only because she was so short. She never let her height or weight ruin her confidence, however. She feared nothing and no one and always held her head high. It might have been my favorite thing about her. It was I that ended up following her into Manfred's classroom, not that she had any reason to feel awkward in his presence as I did. He was sitting at his desk staring down at his cellphone when we walked in.

"Hi, Mr. Bloor! Can we talk to you for a moment?" She asked, causing him to jump with surprise. The old Manfred would have flipped out on us. This Manfred apologized for being distracted.

"Of course you can." He then noticed me lingering in the doorway. "Ah. Is everything okay?"

"As okay as it can be, I guess. Did you get to talk to Fin at all yet?"

"A little. She and I are supposed to meet up while everyone is at lunch. I figured she would tell me what happened so I didn't have to press the information out of you. I, um, understand how it can be hard for you to talk to me sometimes."

"It can be difficult sometimes, but it's not really a trust thing." I sat down in one of the desks in the front row. I told him everything in detail. His expression was grim as I described the intruder and told him that the Mirror of Amoret had been taken. Vera took over and told him about what her endowment had let her see.

"You say you saw a castle that made you feel uneasy?" Manfred pointed out. "Can you describe the castle to me?"

"It kind of looked like this." She walked up to his chalkboard and drew a crude outline of the castle with many strangely shaped windows. As Vera continued to draw defining features, I heard the familiar click of heels on the tile approaching Manfred's classroom. There was a light knock on the door before I noticed my sister standing beside me. No one else seemed to notice her entrance.

"That's Blathe Castle." Manfred said. "One of the properties my family used to own. That the Bones own now."

"Blathe Castle?" Infinity's voice almost made Manfred jump out of his skin a second time. "We don't own such a castle."

"You do. I know there were a lot of properties to sort through. It could have been missed." He raised a brow. "It's practically a ruin now, but your ruin nonetheless."

"No. Dad and I went through everything together, selling off the extra properties and returning the ones that had been taken by illegal means. I never encountered a Blathe Castle. We only own a handful of your old properties anymore. None of them are Blathe Castle." I didn't know much about dad's estate, but Infinity was meticulous in helping him organize everything.

"I don't understand how it was missed. You went through all the paperwork my father gave you and the mother of pearl box, right?" Manfred tapped his fingers on his desk. "It actually belonged to Borlath, you know. It was where he stayed before he attempted to take over the Castle of Mirrors from Amadis. I visited it once as a teenager. It was crumbling and beyond repair. We only kept it in the family because it had belonged to Borlath himself. It's up north, right on a cliff overlooking the sea. The closest town is maybe thirty miles out."

"How could have it been missed by dad, Fin, and Judge Sage?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. But Vera is seeing it for a reason, right?" Infinity awkwardly played with the hem of her black cape. "Maybe we should go check it out?"

"It's a long journey, not one that we could really just take time off to make. I don't think it would be wise of us to leave the academy now. Not if someone is lurking around." Manfred began to pace the room. "This isn't something we should just rush in to. That's how people get hurt."

I scoffed. I didn't mean to, but the irony wasn't lost on me. Manfred was worried about the safety of everyone involved. The same Manfred who had almost succeeded in murdering my sister. I didn't have to look up to know that Infinity was glaring daggers at me. How she had been able to forgive him to the extent that she did actually shocked me at times. Manfred did have a point, though. It wasn't like we could just up and disappear to investigate a castle in the middle of nowhere just because Vera had a premonition. This wasn't going to be like my past adventures, where I rushed into things head first and people were hurt due to my actions. I needed to stay behind and investigate myself.


	2. A Very Important Meeting

Chapter Two: A Very Important Meeting

Charlie

Ever since Dr. Saltweather took over as the headmaster of the academy, the stale air of wickedness that had once permeated the academy was gone. Dread filled the deep pits of my stomach as I noticed that feeling was slowly coming back. Dr. Saltweather took extra care that all of the windows and doors were locked and seemed to watch every student extra closely. Asa no longer slept soundly in his bed at night, instead choosing to take on his beast form and guard the courtyard. I felt that their efforts were in vain. Whoever was responsible for the break in had already gotten what they wanted. They seemed to be very content with keeping to the shadows. Catching us by surprise was the best attack against us.

Dad decided to call a meeting in the west wing after the students went home Friday evening to address the situation at hand. Whenever Billy and I had arrived, dad was already present, along with Uncle Paton, Bartholomew Bloor, Dr, Saltweather, Infinity, Manfred, and Asa. I noticed Billy and I had been the only one of the current endowed students in attendance. Dad and Dr. Saltweather were standing by the fire talking in low voices. Asa was perched on the arm of the sofa, scrolling through his phone. Manfred and Infinity sat close together on the seat of the sofa, heads bent close together as they sorted through what looked like files of some sort. When I stepped closer, I realized it was the student files of all of the endowed students by reading their surnames on the tabs

"We can obviously rule out Emma, Olivia and Dag." Infinity sat the files down on the coffee table in front of her.

Manfred had Vera's file in his hand. "Vera's endowment is slightly incriminating. Many very powerful clairvoyants can almost tap into mental awareness. Not to the point that Salem has, but Eustacia was able to know basic thoughts. She had successfully done it to Charlie once." He murmured. Neither had noticed I was standing directly behind them.

"I really don't think Vera is like that." Infinity frowned. "She seems to like you best out of all of the educators in the academy. Do you think that she could have figured out where the mirror was?"

He let out a defeated sigh. "No, I don't. There just isn't much more to go on."

"What if it's someone that you don't know?" A familiar voice said from behind me. Both Infinity and Manfred jumped in surprise, as well as myself. When I turned my head, Naren Bloor was standing behind me with her hands in the pockets of her green art cape. She had started attending the academy the same year that Vera did. "I don't see any of the current endowed doing something so awful."

"She makes a good point. It's easy to plant someone inconspicuous. Even if the endowed people can sense each other, it's not a sure thing. Titania caught us completely off guard." Manfred pointed out. "And I didn't know about Olivia's endowment until I saw her do it with my own eyes." He sat the files down on the table. "This would be easier if Salem were here."

"We can do this without Salem. He has his own life now." Naren put her hand on Manfred's head and ruffled his hair a bit. He affectionately swatted her away. Seeing them interact was always weird to me. Naren was technically his aunt, but they often behaved like siblings. Manfred was very protective of Naren and that seemed to win Bartholomew's trust very quickly.

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of dad clearing his throat. He stood in front of the fireplace with a very solemn look on his face. Dad very rarely looked serious. He was a very happy, goofy man who had a contagious smile. It was a grim reminder that if that mirror fell into the wrong hands, we would all suffer. While he had defeated Count Harken once before, his body had disappeared and we knew that there was a chance that he wasn't permanently gone. "I'm sure you know why I called all of you here." He crossed his arms and began to nervously pace in front of the fireplace. "Tuesday night, the Mirror of Amoret was stolen. What I've managed to gather is that the thief scaled the old ruin wall to access the courtyard, walked over to my daughter's window, and used possibly telekinesis or magnetism to forcibly rip the Mirror of Amoret from it's hiding place. A hiding place that only Infinity knew. There is a bit of good news in the situation. We have reason to believe that the mirror was shattered in the process. Infinity made sure that if her magic was tampered with, it would cause the mirror to break. And the only one who has ever successfully been able to fix that mirror is Charlie. We have very few leads to go off of on this. One lead is what Billy managed to scrape up. There's an old owl that has lived in the ruins for awhile and was able to give Billy a very basic description. Between what both the owl and Charlie saw, we are convinced that Joshua Tilpin was the one who took the mirror through the means of magnetism. What is worrying is that he knew exactly where to look and how to get through Infinity's magic. It is imperative that we figure out where Titania is holed up at because we already know the Tilpins' plan for that mirror."

"We do have another lead to go on, though we're not sure how reliable it is. Vera Clark had a very vague premonition where she saw a castle that used to be owned by the Bloors. Whenever all of the paperwork and properties were being transferred to my family, Blathe Castle seemed to slip under the radar of myself, my daughter, Harold Bloor, and Judge Sage. There is a chance that Harken acquired it from Ezekiel without informing anyone else and gave it to Titania. To avoid any kind of suspicion, Bart has decided to take this week to travel to Blathe Castle and see if he can figure anything out."

"Pa, is that really the best idea?" Naren interrupted, her brow furrowing. While Bartholomew had been an experienced explorer his whole life, he was getting older. I couldn't blame Naren for being worried, especially if the Tilpins were involved.

"I'll be fine." Bartholomew spoke up. "This is hardly more dangerous than sailing Grimwald's seas."

"At least take Manny with you, or me."

"If someone is here spying in the academy, it will arouse a lot of suspicion if one of the staff or an endowed student just up and leaves. I will be fine. I promise you. Your mother is going to stay with the Bones this week and everything is going to be fine." He ran a hand through his white beard and gave a confident grin. Despite almost pushing 80 years old, Bartholomew was in fantastic shape and I hoped that I looked that way at his age. If dad was confident in sending Bartholomew, I was confident too.

"So, what are we supposed to do in the meantime? What do we do if this lead gets us nowhere?" Asa asked, speaking for the first time since the meeting started. "Do we just wait for Harken and Titania to storm the academy? Do we get launched into another war?" I watched his hand gingerly go up to his chest where he had been impaled with a large shard of ice five years before. Titania had almost killed him during that fight and I couldn't blame him for being worried about going against her again.

"We get ready to fight. Panicking isn't going to get us anywhere." Dad looked around the room. "We took him down once, we can take him down again."

"Without Tancred or Lysander?" I found myself saying. Dad seemed both surprised and disappointed in my doubt.

"Enough." Infinity's stern voice cut through the tension in the room. She stood up from the couch and everyone fell silent. "Nothing is going to stop this from happening. We can either fight it or we can sit and wait for Harken to do whatever awful thing he is going to do. We're much more powerful than we were. Whatever miscreants and mediocre magicians Titania managed persuade this time don't hold a candle to what we have become in the last five years."

"Not to mention that a lot of them were only in it for money, money that Titania no longer has access to." Manfred pointed out. "I studied under Titania, as did Dagbert. I know most of their old tricks and secrets. It won't be difficult for us to take control of the situation."

"Exactly." Infinity clapped her hands together and forced a smile. "As important as this conversation is, I'm going to have to conclude this meeting, at least for right now. Lucian said his train would be arriving shortly after academy dismissal. I would prefer that we don't involve him in any of this, at least for the time being."

Lucian Maxim was Infinity's boyfriend of almost a year. He was an unendowed horror novelist who occasionally traveled to attend book signings and reveals. I had read a few of his books. They were very well written and incredibly creepy. I was surprised that he never had any of his novels turned into movies.

Dad was hesitant when they started dating, as Lucian was nearly ten years older than Infinity, but our family grew to like him a lot. He accepted our family easily despite most people still being wary of the endowed and was a genuinely kind and caring person. I couldn't blame Infinity for trying to shield him from this. With Infinity's dismissal everyone else scattered.


	3. Family Dinner

Chapter 3: Family Dinner

Charlie

Every single Friday, my family would meet at our house and we would have a giant family dinner made by Maisie. The best thing about these family dinners was that we never had to worry about them being crashed by Grandma Bone or the Yewbeam Aunts like they previously were. It was my favorite day of the week and I always looked forward to it. Dad actually had to order a custom dining room table long enough to fit everyone.

Uncle Paton, Aunt Julia and Emma arrived first. Emma was practically overflowing with questions she wanted to ask about the meeting she had missed. I caught her up quickly even though I knew I probably wasn't allowed to yet. There was no harm in Emma knowing anything. It was once Olivia caught wind that things weren't a secret anymore. Asa, Infinity and Lucian arrived next. Lucian only occasionally came to family dinners. He had prior engagements most Fridays that included working on his latest books and attending book signings in the city. Asa came with Infinity every week.

When Asa returned to the city, his mother had originally returned with him. After awhile, she decided it would be best for her to return to her homeland. She said that it hurt too bad for her to stay there without her husband, but urged Asa to stay if that is where he felt he belonged. Mr. and Mrs. Onimous had taken him in. It was there that he learned that he had a knack for fixing things and helped Mr. Onimous with several repairs while also temporarily working as the bouncer. When Asa's temperament switched, animals became much more tolerant of him. Although Asa liked living with the Onimouses, he was grateful when dad offered him a position so he could make some of his own money and moved into one of the staff rooms. Then once Infinity moved back, she asked him to become her housemate. From then on, Asa became a part of our family. He was with us for every holiday, celebrated every birthday, and my parents counted him as one of their own.

When we all sat down to eat, dad immediately switched the conversation to Lucian and his studies to avoid talking about everything else that happened. Infinity was very insistent on keeping everything that happened a secret. The best thing about Lucian was that when he talked, everyone listened so there was no temptation to bring up the interesting things that had happened the week before. He had a deep voice that was very pleasant to listen to as well as a way with storytelling that actually surpassed my own ability. He was charismatic and charming and it didn't take long for my family to figure out why Infinity had become so infatuated with him as quickly as she did.

"Despite the excitement of releasing a new book, I am certainly happy to be back." He pushed his messy auburn hair out of his face and gave Infinity one of his charming smiles. I saw her cheeks turn bright pink as she focused her own attention back down to her plate. "But enough about me, what is going on with everyone else? Charlie? Billy? Emma?"

"Nothing exciting. I've looking at colleges but I'm still not sure if that's what I want to do with my life." I shrugged and stabbed my fork into a piece of carrot. Everything looked delicious but I was having a hard time wanting to eat anything.

"I started learning a new instrument this week." Billy piped in. "Fidelio is trying to teach me how to play the violin." He was better at faking positivity than me.

"I finally finished the painting I've been working on for weeks." Emma scrolled through her phone until she had a picture to show him from across the table.

"Beautiful as always, Emma." He grinned.

"Charlie, I hope you don't feel like you have to go to college." My dad spoke up, looking for a conversation to jump into that didn't involve anything happening at the academy. "While I do expect you to make your own way for yourself, it doesn't necessarily have to involve putting yourself through that."

"But what else can I even do?" I frowned. "I don't have any talents."

"Bullshit-" Infinity interrupted.

"Infinity Elizabeth!" Maisie scolded. "What have I told you about that mouth at the dinner table?"

"Right. Sorry." She drummed her fingers on the table. "You have plenty of your own talents."

"I was asked a question and I answered it. I don't really want to talk about ant of this right now." I could feel my face turning red as I bowed my head. We suffered through the rest of an awkward dinner and everyone else went home. I wanted to try and escape to my room before my mom or dad tried to talk to me again, but I knew they would just follow me.

It was mom that approached me as I was clearing the dinner table. We made eye contact before I quickly turned away from her, hoping she would get the message that I didn't want to talk. She did. She just wordlessly took the plates from my hands, turned on her heel, and walked into the kitchen.

* * *

My Saturday morning started with my phone buzzing non-stop on my night table. I had wondered who was so desperate to call me when I realized that Olivia sent out a group message to our friend group and the continuous buzzing was just everyone replying. _**Pet's Cafe at 11 today? I feel like Charlie has a little bit of explaining to do. Unless you like us all being kept in the dark while you have secret meetings with the adults?**_ I rolled my eyes and checked the time. It was almost nine and I was surprised anyone even let me sleep that long.

 _ **Fine. Whatever. 11 is fine.**_ I tossed my phone back onto the nightstand and made my way into the bathroom to get ready for the day. I felt bad with my annoyed answer, but the timing was awful. Five years ago I held a lot of animosity towards my sister for not wanting to participate in stopping the Bloors and their evil plots. At this point in my life I could understand why she was so overwhelmed and angry all the time. There was enough going on between trying to keep up with my classes and graduate, not to mention that I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. All of this was coming at an inopportune time and I didn't want to deal with it. I had grown complaisant with not having to launch myself into some new action packed adventure every few months. I had enjoyed living in relative normalcy.

When I went downstairs, mom and dad were already gone for the day and Billy was eating an oversized bowl of cereal. "Morning." He said, forcing the cheerfulness in his voice. "I saw your message. If you don't want to go I can just come up with an excuse for you. Or I can tell them everything."

"No, it's fine. I'll go. I just have a couple of tests coming up this week and I'm stressed out." I sat down across from him and poured my own bowl of cereal, though my bowl was nowhere near as large as Billy's. "We shouldn't keep everyone in the dark."

"Vera's going to be there." He teased.

"Shut up." I rolled my eyes. "Where are mom and dad at?"

"Dad went to brunch with Lucian. I guess they had something they needed to talk about. And mom went grocery shopping. They probably won't be back until after we're gone. Dad said you could take the car though."

Billy and I finished the rest of our breakfast and did the rest of our morning chores. I finished the dishes and Billy took the garbage out. Without Gabriel we no longer had gerbils as a free pass to get into the Pet's Cafe, but since we no longer lived with Grandma Bone we were able to have pets of our own. When Rembrandt finally passed away from old rat age, Billy was devastated. He didn't talk to anyone else for weeks and mom had to practically beg him to come out of his room and eat. When he was finally ready for a new pet, dad suggested we get one with a very long lifespan because of Billy's attachment to his animal companions. On his birthday last year Infinity showed up with a big white cockatoo that she adopted from a rescue. His name was Gizmo and he knew a lot of swear words. He also had a long life expectancy. Billy was in tears when she surprised him.

Our second pet was a shelter cat my mom adopted three years ago. She was missing her front left leg and her name was Pumpkin. She liked car rides and playing with the other cats at the Pet's Cafe so my mom didn't mind me taking her. Both pets behaved in the car and didn't require cages, which I was grateful for. Gizmo especially hated being caged up.

When we showed up at the Pet's Cafe, I was the last one to arrive like always. I was greeted by the bouncer that replaced Asa when he moved to the academy. She was a very cheerful woman named Poppy who was mixed race with big, cocoa colored curls, a huge smile and round, almost golden-colored eyes. She was short and stocky. She wore fun patterned clothes and bright colored make-up. Despite her always being happy and cheerful, if a situation called for it, she was intimidating to anyone who broke the rules or disrespected the Onimouses. She also had the same endowment as Billy.

"Good morning, my loves! Your friends are already inside." She announced with her always lovely smile.

"Thank you, Poppy." Despite my grumpy mood, I couldn't help but to smile back at her.

Whenever I stepped through the door, I could hear Olivia's loud mouth first. "Look who finally decided to show up." She called out, rolling her eyes.

"Knock it off, Liv." Emma frowned. Emma was the only other one who knew the gravity of the whole situation and I was grateful that she survived what was possibly endless pestering on Olivia's end. Olivia was one of my closest friends, but I could never understand how Emma and her were so close. They were two completely different people.

When my uncle and Emma's aunt married, Emma was adopted by both of them as their daughter and she took on the Yewbeam last name, giving Emma three name changes in six years. While she still loved and honored the memory of the parents she never got to know herself, I think she just really wanted to feel like she matched with her family. It took a while for me to get used to hearing someone call Uncle Paton "dad" or Aunt Julia "mom", but Emma never really did get to have the normalcy of parents and I couldn't blame her. I had watched my own sister go through something similar.

Emma had changed a lot since I met her as Emilia Moon six years ago, both physically and emotionally. Emma had a bit of a growth spurt and was the second tallest female in our friend group at 5"7. She was still very thin and moved gracefully. She still had the same kind gray eyes and she still preferred to keep her cornsilk blonde hair in a braid. She dressed simply, wearing a lot of light colors. She was quiet, but no longer was it because she was too shy to speak. She preferred to listen to the things going on around her so that all of her responses were always well thought out and left and impression. Being in a relationship with Tancred Torsson had also helped her grow. He taught her to never be afraid to stand her ground and show her strength. He helped her confidence grow.

Olivia was still just as boisterous and confident and independent as ever. She was still blunt to the point of rude, full of sarcasm and rebellion, and loved to get a rise out of people. She was very outspoken in her beliefs and nothing could stop the storm that was Olivia Vertigo. People stopped on the street nearly breaking their necks to look at her because she was easily one of the most beautiful people in the city. Her make-up was always dramatic, highlighting her best features. She always dressed in the latest fashion and religiously attended hair and nail appointments every week. She had recently finished shooting a movie last year and had already accepted a big role to begin after graduation. The fact that Olivia still had interest in any of the things going on with the other endowed honestly blew my mind. Today, she was sitting before me wearing darker make up with wine-colored tones. Her hair was dyed an interesting silver gray and she was wearing a shapeless, long sleeved black and white striped dress with a black floppy hat. Her nails were long, black and sharp.

"Oh. You're staring. Do you like my new look, Charlie?" Olivia batted her long lashes.

I rolled my eyes at her and sat down in my usual spot next to Vera. Billy sat down next to me. "Not my style." I said back to her. She grimaced.

I looked at everyone else who already sat at the table. Naren Bloor and Dagbert Endless were seated together. I was almost certain something was going on between them but they both vehemently denied it. I honestly thought it was because Dagbert didn't want to deal with whatever monologue Manfred would throw at Dagbert about how Naren deserved the best. Naren hadn't changed much. She was still a big fan of bright colors and simplicity. She had already been more mature than any of us whenever we had met her. Bartholomew had already raised her into someone who could stand against anything. Dagbert had changed quite a bit, however. He was a lot stronger physically than most of us. Katya put him to work in her shop. He had officially become her apprentice. While he didn't have her endowment that made everything she touched extra special, he did craft very beautiful swords. He had also been trained to fight with those swords by Katya. He had begged Infinity to train with him as well, as he had never gotten over watching her fight Ashkelan Kapaldi. He gave her a run for her money, nearly defeating her during their last sparring match.

The more time Dagbert had to deal with the death of his father, the more normal he became. While he could still command oceans and was incredibly powerful, he did not assume the new title of Lord of the Oceans. His aquamarine eyes had faded until a much more natural looking blue-green color. The seaweed tone in his hair had also faded away into an average brown. The fishy smell and drowned skin tone that had once repelled people was long gone. Without being fueled by fear and the constant need to get ahead, Dagbert was a very good and loyal friend.

My unendowed friends Fidelio Gunn and Benjamin Brown still stuck around. While Fidelio spent a lot of time preparing for orchestras and Ben had finally made his own friends at his school, they both still made time to meet with us at the Pet's Cafe. I had also made a few new friends as well. We now had Vera, as well as two other endowed students. Andy Martin was a second year who could turn invisible. He had shaggy blonde hair, green eyes and was a little bit taller than Billy. He and Billy had become close friends. There was also fourth year Tamara Morozov whose family had moved from Russia. She had long, dark brown hair and ice blue eyes. She was a hair taller than Emma and participated in sports outside of the academy. She, like Tancred, could control the weather. But unlike Tancred, she could only control snow, ice and colder temperatures.

"I thought we came here to figure out what was going on?" Dagbert adjusted the big, blue boa draped around his neck. "Seems like all you're here to do is be a giant pain in Charlie's ass." He raised a brow at Olivia.

"Fine." Olivia frowned at me again and sighed loudly. "Go on, then."

Despite my annoyance, I launched into telling everyone what I fully knew about the situation and what our current plan was. I was met with grim silence. No one was sure what to say and no one was sure if they were ready to fight this fight once more. "I don't understand how someone was able to get a hold of the mirror if Infinity was the only one who knew where it was..." Olivia shook her head. "Someone had to have been looking through her room, someone who could sense her magic."

"No one really has access to the west wing. It's just her and Asa that live there and I know Asa would never betray us."

"I dunno, Charlie. He _is_ a changer." Fidelio pointed out. "He could easily change again. And you said he was one of the first there when it happened."

"There's also Manfred. He has the most to gain out of any of this." Olivia added.

Both Vera and Naren stood to defend Manfred's honor. A small argument started to break out within the group. "Knock it off!" I demanded, bringing everyone to an uneasy silence. "There's no sense in pointing fingers. It's being looked in to. All I need from you currently is to keep your eyes open and make sure that you're all staying safe."

"Charlie is right." Vera put a hand on my shoulder. It was a small gesture but I could feel my cheeks turning pink. "Turning on each other is only going to divide us and make it harder to defend ourselves."

"Right." Olivia dramatically stood from her seat and scooped her rabbit up into it's basket. "Well, it's been a lovely talk but I have a nail appointment I need to get to. Are you coming with me, Emma? I'll treat you."

"Oh...sure." Emma slowly rose from her seat and gave us all a shy smile. "Everything will work out. But as long as we have this under control ourselves, I don't think we should involve our friends away at school." Her suggestion was spoken in the same polite manner Emma always spoke, but the urgency in her request was there. They both took their leave and Dagbert let out a loud sigh of relief.

"Thank God. Olivia was really getting on my nerves today." He stood up from the table and stretched out a bit. "I have to head out, though. Katya needs me to watch the shop for a little bit so she can run some errands." He looked over at Naren. "Did you want to come hang out until Katya comes back? I'll be able to drive you home when she brings the truck back."

Naren smiled up at him and forfeited her seat as well. "Sure."

Everyone else split up because their own duties called them home. That was the way it always was lately, us splitting up into smaller groups and being drawn away by our own lives.


End file.
